Gathering Question: Share something from last week's discussion on our current pathological system that are on your mind or a time you felt powerful/powerless
Close Reading of Selected Text's “The sage simply guides others Back to what they have lost, And assists all beings to find their true nature, While never daring to use force”
“See the world as your body, Love the world as your own self, And you can be entrusted to care for all things.” pg 86
Reconstructing Power(pg 81-85)
Power (pg 81) = “that which enables” from latin “posse”, “Individuals are the vehicles of power, not its point of application”
1. Power Over (pg 81) “power that restricts or controls... power backed by the gun,... by force,... coercion, manipulation, control motivated at some level by fear” “enables 1 group/individual over another” 2. Power-from-within (pg 82 ) “power that sustains all life: power of creativity, healing, and...love.” “empowerment” “power inherent in seeds...to spring forth life” kingdom of heaven mustard seed power? “Aramaic [Jesus used], hayye translates to “life-force” or “the primal energy that pervades the cosmos” Ex. Mark 5:24-34 Woman’s bleeding stopped story. 3. Power-with “power that enables us to act in concert and to form participatory organizations.” “subtle,... fluid...dependent on personal responsibility...creativity...and willingness of others to respond”
Ex. We shall overcome
String Demo/Diagram. Read pg 84-85 Each person hold the string with their heart (power-from-within, life force). Imagine the string traveling from the heart to the brain and on to the next person. The string connects people as power-with. Power over is someone in the middle of the community who can grab the string and sever the lines between people (power-with) and people’s own ability to use their hearts (power from within).
Confronting Powerlessness:
Pathology of Capitalism (profits before people or environment, skewed value system wealth not defined in terms of contribution to life supporting activities) creates:
a) Internalized powerlessness (pg 87-96) Pg 87 “Powerlessness could be defined as that which prevents us from realizing the fullness of both our power-from-within (the creative potential that serves as the basic foundation of our renewed vision) and our power-with (our ability to act in concert with others)”
Pg 88 “pathology [falls] into one of three ‘poisons’: aversion, addiction, or delusion” Aversion: avoidance, anger, fear, defensiveness, or aggression -> denial and internalized oppression Pg 3 inability to change is due to “lack of political will and ... many of us choose simply to push [dangers] out of mind because of fear.”
Addiction: all form of greed and attachment...attempt to fill the emptiness of lives lived in delusion with something...that will ease the pain of hopelessness. Pg 94 “to be human is to be able to envision,... see literally, and to empathize...addiction is fundamentally dehumanizing”
Delusion: pg 95“We immunize ourselves against the demands of the situation by narrowing our awareness...the mind pays for its deadening to the state of the world...by giving up its capacity for joy and flexibility”
b) Systemic powerlessness (pg 96-104) Repression, Militarism, Violence, Education, Mass Media etc.
Pg 104 “The advertisement in a very concentrated form tells you everything that matters:The nature of the universe? Storehouse of materials. Nature of the human? Get a job and buy commodities. The ideal human? Someone hanging out by the pool drinking a Coke and laughing.”
Reawakening to Hope
Read pg 113 cultivate “the idea of a wider self...the body is in the soul” Read pg 115 “Reawakened...nurtured by love, beauty and wonder”
Reflections: -Christ of the Celts suggests Jesus’ came to reawaken our sense of what true life is about. Jesus and the earth are in a sense restorers of the memory of our true selves -Epiphany is linked to reawakening of ideas to a new understanding of something that already exists as seen through Jesus’ life -Perhaps we need to start with the activities, spaces and people that we find delight, beauty, love, & wonder in.
Exploring colour quote pages:
Awareness of joy and sorrow, beauty and despair --> Moves to Connection with others --> Awakening through beauty
Pg 118 “begin by reawakening through beauty and delight... to care for that which we see, and ideally, we find ourselves loving the material world...because love alters behaviour, honouring sensory and sensual experience may be fundamental to the preservation of the earth...reawakening the senses and reconnecting with beauty begin to change the way we perceive reality. We move beyond the numbing confines of the ego toward an open, mindful experience of the world.”
Awareness --> Process Aversions and emotions of crisis (pain and fear)
Pg 121 “Ultimately, our pain – and even our despair – is rooted in compassion, our ability to suffer-with...our fear, too, is... often rooted in love” Pg 122 “by recognizing our capacity to suffer with our world, we dawn to wider dimensions of being. In those dimensions, there is pain still, but a lot more. There is wonder, even joy...a new kind of power... ultimately by unblocking our pain and acknowledging our fears, we open ourselves once again to the greater web of life...”
Awareness requires community
Pg 123 “self-knowledge... seldom emerges in isolation, but is usually sparked by interactive process of identifying with other people...community... is essential for the realization of one’s own potential to act and affect change in one’s life” “community must be the context in which we seek to heal and challenge each other toward new ways of being.” Pg 122 “compassion is seen... as identification with the suffering of others, but in fact it extends as well to sharing joy, delight, and ecstasy. Beauty draws us out of ourselves and allows us to develop our sensitivity and awareness. We are inspired to awe, wonder, and reverence” these in turn enable us to be inspired to act. When the time is right/ripe.
Encouraged Questions and Thoughts:
-What type of reawakening to hope does our faith suggest? Consider looking at how we are defined in creation. Consider examining Gen. 1-2 and reflecting on “The beautiful story of Genesis”
-What makes you delight? What fills you with wonder or beauty? Perhaps we need to ask ourselves – “What do we want?” and live as if we already have it.
-What am I doing unknowingly to my core? To the earth’s? How does developing a wider sense of self change what I am willing to do and how I am willing to live? “Admittedly there are hundreds of matters of lesser consequence where each of us must compromise in order to live in society, but now and then there are more fundamental issues for some of us where that is not possible. To sever our beliefs from our actions on those issues is – for individuals or for nations – to wound ourselves deep inside. That is what I am not willing to do to myself, to my spiritual core which gives the rest of my life meaning." With Our Own Eyes by Don Mosley Pg 203
Prayer: pg 157 Prayer E from Iona Community prayer book: Here, O Creator God, We look in wonder at all you have made. But remind us: the earth does not belong to us; we belong to the earth. And remind us: the earth, and all that is in it, belongs to you. You confront us with such beauty, and such power. And such responsibility. Teach us, O creator God, to respect this planet, our home, to live carefully within the web of life, and to give you the glory. Amen.
Week 3: Renewing the Psyche
Gathering Question: Share something from last week's discussion on our current pathological system that are on your mind or a time you felt powerful/powerless
Recall: Insights into a pathological system... the need to develop an Empire Lens and “Think about what you’re buying”
Close Reading of Selected Text's
“The sage simply guides others
Back to what they have lost,
And assists all beings to find their true nature,
While never daring to use force”
“See the world as your body,
Love the world as your own self,
And you can be entrusted to care for all things.” pg 86
Reconstructing Power (pg 81-85)
Power (pg 81) = “that which enables” from latin “posse”, “Individuals are the vehicles of power, not its point of application”
1. Power Over (pg 81) “power that restricts or controls... power backed by the gun,... by force,... coercion, manipulation, control motivated at some level by fear” “enables 1 group/individual over another”
2. Power-from-within (pg 82 ) “power that sustains all life: power of creativity, healing, and...love.” “empowerment” “power inherent in seeds...to spring forth life” kingdom of heaven mustard seed power? “Aramaic [Jesus used], hayye translates to “life-force” or “the primal energy that pervades the cosmos” Ex. Mark 5:24-34 Woman’s bleeding stopped story.
3. Power-with “power that enables us to act in concert and to form participatory organizations.” “subtle,... fluid...dependent on personal responsibility...creativity...and willingness of others to respond”
Ex. We shall overcome
String Demo/Diagram. Read pg 84-85 Each person hold the string with their heart (power-from-within, life force). Imagine the string traveling from the heart to the brain and on to the next person. The string connects people as power-with. Power over is someone in the middle of the community who can grab the string and sever the lines between people (power-with) and people’s own ability to use their hearts (power from within).
Pathology of Capitalism (profits before people or environment, skewed value system wealth not defined in terms of contribution to life supporting activities) creates:
a) Internalized powerlessness (pg 87-96)
Pg 87 “Powerlessness could be defined as that which prevents us from realizing the fullness of both our power-from-within (the creative potential that serves as the basic foundation of our renewed vision) and our power-with (our ability to act in concert with others)”
Pg 88 “pathology [falls] into one of three ‘poisons’: aversion, addiction, or delusion”
Aversion: avoidance, anger, fear, defensiveness, or aggression -> denial and internalized oppression
Pg 3 inability to change is due to “lack of political will and ... many of us choose simply to push [dangers] out of mind because of fear.”
Addiction: all form of greed and attachment...attempt to fill the emptiness of lives lived in delusion with something...that will ease the pain of hopelessness. Pg 94 “to be human is to be able to envision,... see literally, and to empathize...addiction is fundamentally dehumanizing”
Delusion: pg 95“We immunize ourselves against the demands of the situation by narrowing our awareness...the mind pays for its deadening to the state of the world...by giving up its capacity for joy and flexibility”
b) Systemic powerlessness (pg 96-104)
Repression, Militarism, Violence, Education, Mass Media etc.
Pg 104 “The advertisement in a very concentrated form tells you everything that matters:The nature of the universe? Storehouse of materials. Nature of the human? Get a job and buy commodities. The ideal human? Someone hanging out by the pool drinking a Coke and laughing.”
Reawakening to Hope
Read pg 113 cultivate “the idea of a wider self...the body is in the soul”
Read pg 115 “Reawakened...nurtured by love, beauty and wonder”
Reflections:
-Christ of the Celts suggests Jesus’ came to reawaken our sense of what true life is about. Jesus and the earth are in a sense restorers of the memory of our true selves
-Epiphany is linked to reawakening of ideas to a new understanding of something that already exists as seen through Jesus’ life
-Perhaps we need to start with the activities, spaces and people that we find delight, beauty, love, & wonder in.
Exploring colour quote pages:
Awareness of joy and sorrow, beauty and despair --> Moves to Connection with others --> Awakening through beauty
Pg 118 “begin by reawakening through beauty and delight... to care for that which we see, and ideally, we find ourselves loving the material world...because love alters behaviour, honouring sensory and sensual experience may be fundamental to the preservation of the earth...reawakening the senses and reconnecting with beauty begin to change the way we perceive reality. We move beyond the numbing confines of the ego toward an open, mindful experience of the world.”
Awareness --> Process Aversions and emotions of crisis (pain and fear)
Pg 121 “Ultimately, our pain – and even our despair – is rooted in compassion, our ability to suffer-with...our fear, too, is... often rooted in love”
Pg 122 “by recognizing our capacity to suffer with our world, we dawn to wider dimensions of being. In those dimensions, there is pain still, but a lot more. There is wonder, even joy...a new kind of power... ultimately by unblocking our pain and acknowledging our fears, we open ourselves once again to the greater web of life...”
Awareness requires community
Pg 123 “self-knowledge... seldom emerges in isolation, but is usually sparked by interactive process of identifying with other people...community... is essential for the realization of one’s own potential to act and affect change in one’s life” “community must be the context in which we seek to heal and challenge each other toward new ways of being.”
Pg 122 “compassion is seen... as identification with the suffering of others, but in fact it extends as well to sharing joy, delight, and ecstasy. Beauty draws us out of ourselves and allows us to develop our sensitivity and awareness. We are inspired to awe, wonder, and reverence” these in turn enable us to be inspired to act. When the time is right/ripe.
Encouraged Questions and Thoughts:
-What type of reawakening to hope does our faith suggest? Consider looking at how we are defined in creation. Consider examining Gen. 1-2 and reflecting on “The beautiful story of Genesis”
-What makes you delight? What fills you with wonder or beauty?
Perhaps we need to ask ourselves – “What do we want?” and live as if we already have it.
-What am I doing unknowingly to my core? To the earth’s? How does developing a wider sense of self change what I am willing to do and how I am willing to live?
“Admittedly there are hundreds of matters of lesser consequence where each of us must compromise in order to live in society, but now and then there are more fundamental issues for some of us where that is not possible. To sever our beliefs from our actions on those issues is – for individuals or for nations – to wound ourselves deep inside. That is what I am not willing to do to myself, to my spiritual core which gives the rest of my life meaning." With Our Own Eyes by Don Mosley Pg 203
Additional Resources:
“Wake up” by Richard Garvey
Burning with Hope: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Do0PZ0Izeus
Leonardo boff: New heart and Mind: A bit on ecology
Prayer: pg 157 Prayer E from Iona Community prayer book:
Here, O Creator God,
We look in wonder at all you have made.
But remind us: the earth does not belong to us;
we belong to the earth.
And remind us: the earth, and all that is in it,
belongs to you.
You confront us with such beauty, and such power.
And such responsibility.
Teach us, O creator God,
to respect this planet, our home,
to live carefully within the web of life,
and to give you the glory.
Amen.